


Puppy Love

by UnhelpfulPanda



Series: AU Rave Party [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, M/M, Marriage, Strangers to Lovers, Weddings, casey the dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 14:19:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnhelpfulPanda/pseuds/UnhelpfulPanda
Summary: "I found your dog wandering the streets so I decided to come and return him AU"John's dog escapes and gets lost, and Dave finds her.(This doubles as a johndaveweek 2018 day 5 fic!)





	1. John: Be the Dog Dad

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with another AU for this series!
> 
> It's also my johndaveweek 2018 day 5 fic, since it fit so perfectly with the prompt! (romcom)
> 
> I hope you enjoy! I think this fic is super cute :3c
> 
>  
> 
> [Long List of AUs](http://transmansylveon.tumblr.com/post/110322003353/)

            Your name was John Egbert, and you lived a modest life. Your grandmother left your father a ludicrous inheritance, and your father barely made a dent in the amount, deciding that the majority of it should go to you when you hit 18. You had the means to live in a mansion and drive fancy cars and take expensive vacations, but you never really felt the need to do any of that. As long as you had the necessities, you were fine.

            You owned decent car, nice enough to not break down every few months but not flashy enough to garner attention. You also had bought a small two-bedroom house with a backyard that wasn't _large_ , per say, but big enough for a dog to enjoy. And naturally, the first thing you did when you bought the house was visit the local shelter and adopt a dog.

            Casey was a big fluffy angel and the light of your life. You figured she was mostly golden retriever, but with something mixed in that made her much fluffier than other retrievers. She was unique, and dog lovers frequently went out of their way to compliment her and ask you about her breed.

            She was also friendly with everyone, including the small wild animals in the park. You had never before seen a dog that didn't chase squirrels and rabbits, but Casey not only didn't chase them, but was able to send out vibes that said 'I AM SAFE FOR TINY WOODLAND CREATURES TO APPROACH'. And you have a phone full of pictures of her chilling out with rabbits, squirrels, and birds to prove that it works.

            The only problems you faced were that she was extremely intelligent and she got lonely pretty easily. It normally wouldn't be an issue, but every once and a while you came home from work and saw her sitting in front of the open front door, waiting impatiently for you.

            Then, one day, your boss asked you to stay a bit later than normal and cover an extra two hours of a sick employee's shift. You agreed as long as you got the next day off, and worked for two extra hours longer than normal.

            When you finally got home, you were shocked to find the front door open, but no Casey waiting for you. You hurried out of the car and into the house, calling Casey's name as you did. You shook her bag of treats and waited, but she didn't come running like usual.

            It soon dawned on you that your dog had run off, and you became frantic and distraught. You called up your cousin Jade and barely held off tears as you told her what had happened.

            "What if she's lost? What if she got hurt?? What if-??" your hysterical rambling was cut off before you could voice the unthinkable.

            " _John! It's okay. Dogs are super smart and capable of handling themselves. Remember when Bec ran off that one time?? He was gone for a whole week, and when he came wandering back, the only thing I noticed was some sticks and leaves in his fur. Casey will be fine! If she doesn't come back in a week,_ then _you worry_!" Jade tried to calm you.

            "A _week_??" you wailed. "Jade, I don't live in a secluded place like you do! There's cars and shit around here!"

            " _That's true, I suppose... Well, the first thing you should do is put up 'lost dog' flyers with her picture and your phone number on it. Hopefully, someone will have seen her and call you very soon_!" Jade explained. You thanked her and ended the call, moving quickly to do as she instructed.

            It was tough choosing just one picture of her, but otherwise you were able to print out a fuckton of flyers and drive around the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods slowly, getting out and taping up flyers every so often and always keeping a lookout for your fluffy daughter.

            And then you went home, turned your phone volume on full blast, and laid in bed staring at the ceiling and worrying for the whole rest of the night.


	2. Casey: Be the Lost Doggo

            Your name was Casey, and you were a good dog. You waited for Your Human to come home every day he left. Sometimes, you grew so lonely, you waited outside for him so you could see the moment he came home. He always scolded you when you did, but you were too happy to have him return to feel guilty.

            One day, though, you waited outside for much too long. Your Human was supposed to be home a long time ago. Had he gotten lost? Where was he? For the first time, you strayed from your place in front of the door and made your way curiously to the street, to see if your Human was stuck nearby. To your dismay, he was not.

            While you stared sadly down the road where your Human always comes from, a loud noise made you jump and bolt across the street. A bigger, meaner version of the thing your Human always rode in when he came home roared by, and an equally mean human yelled out the window at you.

            "Stupid dog!" he shouted, and you yelped and skittered away from the side of the road, until you made it to another road. This was not the road by your house, but before you could think to backtrack, another loud thing went by you. You ran farther and didn't stop until there was someplace you could hide, under a nice wood bench away from the road and the loud, mean things. Your Human never rode in such a loud thing. Was his the only one like that?

            You waited under the bench for a very, very long time. All night, in fact! You wished you had just stayed in your house today! And you still didn’t know if your Human was okay! He could be hurt somewhere and need you, but you were too afraid to come out and look for him. All you could do was try to nap and hope he was okay…

 

            The sound of a door slamming shut startled you awake, and you whimpered and trembled under your hiding spot. You watched a human’s shoes walk up to the bench, and a deep voice very much unlike your Human’s musical tenor reached your ears.

            The stranger let out a simple, “Huh,” and did nothing else for a while. You hoped that he would simply leave and let you keep hiding, but after watching him shift from foot to foot, he muttered to himself, “If I get my face ripped off and die for this, Dirk is going to laugh himself right into his own grave and I’ll have to opt for express reincarnation to escape the shame.”

            You watched nervously as he moved to crouch by your bench, getting on his hands and knees until his face appeared in front of you. His hair was light and he had little spots all over his face, and instead of eyes he had big dark round things that took up most of his face and frightened you.

            There was no way to get away from him, and you considered growling at him or biting him if you really had to, even though your Human would be very upset with you for biting, but then he spoke to you in a gentle voice.

            “Hey, puppy. Whatcha doin’ under there?” he asked you. You whined softly, torn between wanting this nice human to comfort you, and still wanting to get away because he had no eyes. He sat up just a bit so his face was gone, and then you heard him set something down on top of the bench and lean back down.

            Oh, okay, he _did_ have eyes. They were soft, kind eyes, and they made you feel much better. “Come on out, Puppy. I’ll get you some food and water. I bet you’re hungry, right?” he coaxed.

            You perked up at the mention of food and water, even if the name he had given you was _not_ your name. You weren’t a puppy! You hadn’t been a puppy for a long time! But he called you it with such an adoring voice that you couldn’t find it in your (hungry!) self to truly mind.

            You inched out from under your hiding spot, and the human stood up and motioned you to follow him into his house. Still a bit wary of him, you cautiously went through his open front door.

            You watched this human, who you decided to call ‘Other Human’, pull out some human food chicken and inspect it before offering it to you. You stared down at the human food skeptically and then back up at him. Your Human rarely offered you human food; he said it was bad for you.

            “Listen, I don’t have dog food. I know KFC isn’t, like, a healthy gourmet dog meal, but if you’re hungry, it gets the job done,” he huffed, and you gingerly took the chicken from him and dug in. He also got you a human bowl with water in it, and you drank almost the whole thing.

            You hadn’t noticed when you first saw him, but Other Human had a big contraption on a strap around his neck, and while you drank, he adjusted it. “Hey, Puppy, look here,” he called, snapping his finger as he put the contraption up to his face.

            You looked up at him, and there was a flash of light from the contraption. Oh, he was taking a picture. Your Human takes those too, only on the smaller thing he talks to people on. “Good girl,” he praised you, scratching behind your ear for a moment. You barked when he stopped, then rolled over onto your back, wiggling and showing off your belly. He grinned excitedly at you and rubbed at your belly and sides, gushing praise similar to how Your Human does.

            Other Human stopped much too soon, saying something you didn’t understand about ‘developing’ something, and walked off with his picture contraption. You followed him curiously into his sleep room, but he went into another room and shut the door behind him. You barked at the closed door, and Other Human poked his head back out.

            “This room reeks, and it’s a small space with shit everywhere. I can’t let you in,” he explained. It did smell very unpleasant in there, but you were hesitant to be alone. “I’m right in here, Puppy. I’ll be out in just a bit,” he added before shutting the door again.

            With nothing else to do, you jumped up onto his bed. It was much messier than Your Human’s bed, but it was just as comfy, so you curled up and took a little nap.

 

            When you awoke, it was to Other Human standing nearby, putting his picture contraption on the table by his bed. You sat up and barked at him, and he grinned at you and showed you a picture.

            “Look, Puppy, it’s you,” he announced, and it was. You sniffed the picture just to be sure it didn’t smell like a different dog, then barked at him again. “We’re gonna take it to the store to make some Found Dog posters for you. I figure someone is probably missing you, huh?” he explained. He moved to leave the room, calling to you over his shoulder. “Come on, don’t you want to go find your human?”

            You wagged your tail and barked excitedly, chasing him down. Yes! Yes, you wanted to find Your Human! Other Human laughed, moving to the front door. Before he opened the door, he put those round black things back over his eyes. You whined disapprovingly.

            “Sorry, I can’t go without my shades. The sun hurts my eyes, and if I can’t see, how can I get you back to your human?” he inquired. You accepted this answer, reluctantly, because you’d rather get back to Your Human than argue about Other Human’s… ‘ _shades_ ’.

            Other Human led you to one of those scary things you had run away from. You whimpered and backed up, but Other Human pat your head. “Don’t worry, Puppy. You’ll get to ride in the front seat,” he told you. You didn’t know what that meant, but he went up to the mean thing and opened up a door, patting the seat inside. You looked at it skeptically, then barked at him. “The store is too far to walk to, and you don’t have a leash, so we have to ride in the truck. Come on, I’ll roll down the window for you and everything. It will be fun!” he reassured you.

            Other Human hadn’t lied to you up to this point, but you still were wary when you jumped into this ‘ _truck_ ’ thing. It was messy and smelled like human food inside, but then Other Human got in on the other side and started the truck up, and the window rolled down to give you fresh air.

            He started driving down the street, and you stuck your head out of the window curiously. Wind hit your face, and with it were all kinds of interesting smells. You stuck your tongue out happily, squinting against the force of the wind. Other Human laughed.

            Other Human suddenly pulled his truck over and stopped, turning it off. He got out, going over to a pole on the sidewalk and pulling a paper off. He looked at the paper quietly, then looked up at you. “Casey?” he called.

            Yes! Yes, that was your name! You barked your head off in excitement, and he laughed at you and came up to the window, where you licked his face you were just so happy. “This is you and your human, then, right?” he asked, showing you the paper.

            A picture of Your Human hugging you around your neck and smiling happily was on the paper. Again, you went crazy, barking and whining. Yes, that was him! Where was he?? You want to see him! “He’s a cutie,” Other Human commented idly as he pulled out a thing similar to what your person uses to talk to people and take pictures of you, a ‘phone’ you think?

            You watched him press some buttons, reading off the paper as he did, and then put the phone to his ear. He waited a minute before saying, “Yo, is this John Egbert?”

            If you strained your ears, you could hear the muffled voice of Your Human respond. You whined pitifully and pawed at the door of Other Human’s truck.

            “You don’t know me, but I found your dog, Casey,” he explained. You heard Your Human start to talk much louder, and Other Human had to pull the phone away from his face, wincing at the volume. “Yeah, she’s in my truck right now. If you text me your address, I can drive her over to you,” he said. He listened for a moment and then nodded, saying, “Okay, I’ll get you to her right now. See you in a sec,” he pressed a button on his phone and smiled at you. “Let’s go see your human, Casey.”

            You barked in agreement.


	3. Dave: Reunite Cute Guy with His Loving Dog Daughter

            Your name was Dave Strider, and you were orchestrating a family reunion. Today did not go the way you expected, mostly because today you were just going to take some pictures and then watch TV and eat pizza. You did not expect to find a (admittedly super adorable) lost dog. And you didn’t expect said dog to have an (equally as adorable) owner to take her back to.

            John was waiting anxiously in front of his house when you pulled up. He didn’t live that far away from you, thankfully. Casey almost jumped out of the window before the truck had been parked when she saw him. She whined and whimpered and pawed at the door until you opened the passenger door for her, and then she bolted for her owner.

            John opened up his arms for Casey, and she practically jumped into them, knocking him over and licking his face all over. John laughed and pet her all over while she wiggled and whined happily. You smiled softly as you watched them.

            John finally got Casey to calm down enough to let him sit up. His big blue eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were blotchy and wet with tears when he looked at you. He wiped his face with his arm and sniffled, but he was still a little choked up when he said, “Thank you so, so much,” with a level of gratitude that absolutely floored you.

            “No, dude, it’s totally okay. I love dogs, so it was no big deal for me,” you hurriedly assured him. He picked himself up and approached you.

            “I never got your name, sorry,” he smiled apologetically, and just his smile was enough to make your cheeks color.

            “Dave Strider,” you introduced yourself, and then he hugged you tightly. You usually didn’t really like strangers to touch you, but the way he threw his arms around your neck and pulled you against him was…

            It was really nice, okay?

            And he was soft and smelled nice and you might be a little infatuated with him. They say dogs are their owners, and if the way both John and Casey were able to quickly draw you in was anything to go by, you’d say they were right. You hesitantly hugged him around the middle, quickly letting go as soon as he started to pull back.

            “Sorry. Can I, like, offer you a reward? I didn’t say anything about a reward originally, but-” he began.

            “No! No, no, no; I don’t need a reward,” you cut him off. You looked down at Casey, who was happily looking from you to John with her tongue out and her tail wagging a mile a minute. “If its okay, though… I’d like to be able to visit Casey sometimes? I don’t really have a 9-to-5, so any time is cool, but I kinda bonded with her a bit, and like I said, I love dogs, so…” you trailed off.

            John nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! Come visit her any time! She gets lonely when I’m at work, so I’m sure she would love the company!” he answered.

            You stared at him for a while, internally debating. He was so fucking cute, and a huge sweetheart, but if he didn’t swing that way…

            “Uh.” John perked up as soon as you opened your mouth. “One more thing, if… if you’re cool with it, I don’t want to force you or make you feel like you owe me or nothin’, but…” those blue eyes watched you expectantly and you began to lose your nerve. “I, uh, thought… maybe we could get a coffee? Or something…” by the end, you were basically mumbling and John had to lean in and strain to hear you.

            “Oh!” John’s cheeks went red and he squirmed nervously. You immediately began to backtrack.

            “Fuck, uh, never mind, that was stupid. Ignore what I just said,” you sighed. John looked a little taken aback.

            “W-wait, don’t take it back! I just, um… I’ve only had like, one serious relationship in my entire life. And that was in eighth grade, so really, how serious could it have been?” he laughed a little awkwardly. “I’m not saying ‘ _no_ ’, though.”

            “Shit, dude; it doesn’t have to be a serious thing if you don’t want. We can start as slow as you want, it’ll be super casual. And if you decide you don’t wanna, then that’s totally chill; no hard feelings,” You rambled.

            “And if… if I don’t _want_ it to be casual?” John asked hesitantly, peeking up at you from under his eyelashes. Your ears burned and your heart felt like it was trying to jump straight out of your chest and into his arms.

            "That's-" your voice cracked, and you had to clear your throat before trying again, "That's cool, too." John smiled brightly at you and invited you inside so you weren't standing awkwardly in his front yard anymore.

            You hesitated to accept the invitation, but Casey nudged the back of your knees and barked at you expectantly, as if to say, 'well?? what are you waiting for, dummy??'

            Well... what _were_ you waiting for? You obliged the dark haired man and his dog and followed them inside.


	4. Epilogue

            Your name was Casey, and you were excited for the day to begin.

            You woke up to the alarm clock going off on the bedside table, watching as a pale, freckled arm slid out from under the blankets and sluggishly hit the clock until the sound stopped. There was tired mumbling and then a content sigh, and then the room returned to silence.

            You hopped off the bed and left the room for a drink of water and a few bites of food, and then wandered back into the bedroom. You stood expectantly in the doorway for a moment before taking a running leap and landing on the lumps under the blanket.

            "Ack!" A muffled voice exclaimed.

            "Caaaaseyyyyyy!" A different voice whined at you, and you barked in reply. The blankets shifted, and then the faces of Your Humans appeared. You wagged your tail and kissed them both.

            "Casey, please. We _talked_ about this," Your Freckled Human grumbled tiredly. You barked again. "We don't have to be up until..." he squinted over at the clock, then gave a defeated sigh. "...five minutes ago."

            Your Human whined and kicked his feet petulantly, and you barked and laid on his legs to get him to stop. "We can be a little late to the venue, can't we??" he asked. Your Freckled Human sat up and kissed him.

            "No, John, we cannot be late to our own goddamn wedding," he snickered. Your Human sighed, they kissed again, and then they both started to get up and get ready.

            It had been almost three years since Your Humans met each other, courtesy of you getting lost. Since then, the human you had once dubbed 'Other Human' has become just as much of your human as, well... Your Human. Only he has freckles and Your Human doesn't, hence his new name being 'Your Freckled Human'.

            Your Humans had been tirelessly planning something called a 'wedding' for months now. They even had two little white bows for your ears, each with a ring tied to them. They also had a big cake that you were very much not allowed to eat, and it had three figures on top; two that looked like Your Humans dressed in nice white suits, and in between them, you!

            Your Humans rushed around the house getting ready while you laid by the door and just watched them hurry about. They looked nice in their suits, you thought. They also wore nice smells, and Your Freckled Human had put gel in his hair, and Your Human had even tried to comb his hair! They laughed about that, since it obviously hadn’t worked, and then wasted a few moments smiling at each other before you barked to get them to continue getting ready.

            Oh, they were so deeply in love. You had never thought Your Human had been unhappy, since he seemed like he had everything he needed… but it was very obvious that Your Freckled Human completed him. And they both adored you, of course.

            The feeling was mutual.

            Before leaving, they put on your ear bows and your leash. You didn’t really like them, but you would put up with them just for today, you supposed. Besides, they gave you treats for your trouble.

* * *

 

            The place you went to was a small park crowded with lots of people you knew. Your Humans handed your leash off to Your Freckled Human’s brother, who you called “Pointy Shades Human” for pretty obvious reasons. You whined at Your Humans, but they just patted your head and left.

            “Looks like I’m walking you down the aisle, Casey,” Pointy Shades Human commented idly, leaning against the nearest table in forced nonchalance. You could tell too many humans made him anxious; it was why he was hanging back and how he was designated the one to hold your leash. You ran your head into his leg and then sat on his foot, looking up at him pointedly. “You’re a good dog,” he praised, patting your side.

            He didn’t have to tell you that, though. You knew.

            You were very well behaved during the wedding, walking calmly down the aisle with Pointy Shades Human even though all the eyes on you made the both of you nervous. You sat patiently while the music played and Your Humans walked slowly ( _very_ slowly) down that same aisle, arms linked together.

            You didn’t even bark or squirm when you saw them, even though you couldn’t help the way your tail wagged when you saw them. Your Freckled Human patted your head when they reached you, which you appreciated.

            Your Human’s cousin, who you call Bec’s Human because she’s your dog friend Becquerel’s human, was the one who was marrying them. She talked a lot, and you didn’t really pay attention. None of it made a lot of sense; it was a bunch of human customs that was easy to ignore since you weren’t involved.

            Then Your Human approached you and removed the rings from the bows in your ears, ruffling your fur lovingly before returning to his previous spot. Your Humans put the rings on each other’s fingers, Bec’s Human talked some more, and then they kissed while everyone cheered.

            And, okay yeah, you got a bit excited at that and jumped up on them, licking both their faces. Obviously this wedding needed more kisses, right?? They laughed and hugged you and kissed each other some more, and you knew that your little family was going to have many more years full of love and happiness.

            Your name was Casey Egbert-Strider, and you were excited for the years to come.


End file.
